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NEADS Accepting Applications to the Fall 2025 Financial Assistance Program

Deadline: Friday, October 10, 2025 at 5pm PT, pacific time.

(Ottawa, Tuesday, September 2, 2025)

The National Educational Association of Disabled Students (NEADS) is now accepting applications for the Fall 2025 semester of the NEADS Financial Assistance Program. The NEADS Financial Assistance Program is a recent, exciting merger of the previous NEADS National Student Awards Program and Accessibility Resilience Program.

This program is intended to offset the high costs of education for students living with disabilities and encourage full access to post-secondary education for students living with disabilities enrolled in undergraduate, graduate or professional degree programs at recognized Canadian universities, or in certified diploma programs at Canadian colleges or CÉGEP.

Emphasis will be placed on students living with disabilities who belong to one or more systemically disadvantaged groups , including but not limited to: Indigenous Peoples (First Nations, Metis, Inuit), Black Canadians, racialized communities, members of the 2SLGBTQI+ communities, Women and gender diverse people (in relation to STEM fields), or a first/second generation Canadian.

Important Update:

Due to the conclusion of our most recent federal funding agreement with Employment and Social Development Canada’s Supports for Student Learning Program, NEADS is not offering its usual $2,000 needs-based grants in the Fall 2025 semester. This funding ended on March 31, 2025 and was not renewed. We are actively seeking new sources of support to reinstate this part of the program in future semesters.

Partner-Funded Scholarships Still Available:

While core needs-based grants are paused for the Fall 2025 semester, NEADS is pleased to offer several partner-funded scholarships through the Financial Assistance Program. Available this semester are:

  • AMI Robert Pearson Memorial Scholarship (2 scholarships of $5,000 — one for a Francophone and one for an Anglophone student)

Now in its 15th year, the AMI Sir Robert Pearson Memorial Scholarship is named in honour of Accessible Media Inc.’s former Accessibility Officer, Robert Pearson, a long-time advocate for accessibility in Canada and around the world.

Additional awards not offered this semester, but available in other application periods, include:

  • Canada Post Award ($10,000)
  • Connor Clark & Lunn Financial Group Scholarship for students in Business, Economics, or STEM ($5,000)
  • Holly Bartlett Memorial Award ($1,000)
  • Christine Nieder Memorial Award ($1,000)

“We are incredibly grateful to Employment and Social Development Canada’s Supports for Student Learning Program for the funding that made our needs-based grants possible over the past year and a half under NEADS’s Virtual Access For All project. Their support allowed us to offer direct financial relief to hundreds of disabled students across the country, covering essential costs like tuition, rent, assistive technology, food, and mental health services. These grants filled critical gaps and had a meaningful impact on students’ ability to access and continue their education.

At the same time, we know the need hasn’t gone away. It’s difficult not to be able to offer this stream of support for the Fall 2025 semester, especially knowing how many students were depending on it. That’s why we’re actively working to secure new funding — with the goal of bringing the program back to its full capacity as soon as possible” says Katja Newman, Director of the NEADS Financial Assistance Program.

You can apply for the available partner funded scholarships through one central application on the NEADS website until Friday, October 10, 2025 at 5pm PT, Pacific time

For inquiries related to the application process, contact the NEADS’ Financial Assistance Programs Team at etes@neads.ca. For any other inquiries, contact:

Frank Smith
National Coordinator National Educational Association of Disabled Students (NEADS)
Rm. 514 Unicentre, Carleton University
Ottawa, Ontario, K1S 5B6

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